Judges 17
Judges 17:1 There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Micah.
Judges 17:2 He said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver taken from you, and that I heard you place a curse on – notice the silver. I took it.” Then his mother said, “My son, may you be empowered by Yahveh!”
Judges 17:3 He returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, who said, “I personally consecrate the silver to Yahveh for my son’s benefit to make a carved image and a silver idol. I will give it back to you.”
Judges 17:4 So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took five pounds of silver and gave it to a silversmith. He made it into a carved image and a silver idol, and it was in Micah’s house.
Judges 17:5 This man, Micah, had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household idols and installed one of his sons as his priest.
Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever looked right to him.
Judges 17:7 There was a young man, a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who was staying within the clan of Judah.
Judges 17:8 The man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. On his way he came to Micah’s home in the hill country of Ephraim.
Judges 17:9 “Where do you come from?” Micah asked him. He answered him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I’m going to stay wherever I can find a place.”
Judges 17:10 Micah replied, “Stay with me and be my father and priest, and I will give you four ounces of silver a year, along with your clothing and provisions.” So the Levites went in
Judges 17:11 and agreed to stay with the man, and the young man became like one of his sons.
Judges 17:12 Micah dedicated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house.
Judges 17:13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that Yahveh will be good to me because a Levite has become my priest.”
Judges 17 quotes:
“The wandering Levite from Judah finds employment at Micah’s house shrine. Having a genuine Levite serve in the shrine is deemed to be preferable to the ad hoc arrangement with Micah’s own son. The passage beautifully portrays relationships in terms of kin. The priest, not having a set hereditary homestead of his own in the style of the Levites, becomes a member of Micah’s family, a retainer attached to a home shrine. Micah’s declaration at v. 13 suggests that Levites are wandering holy men who bring good luck with them. They are quintessential mediators between God and humans, have divinatory abilities, and are quite a catch for the repentant son, con man, and cult founder.”
Niditch Susan. Judges: A Commentary. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press 2008. p. 182.
Judges 17 links:
blessed by grace
good luck
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, July 11, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, July 9, 2019
no king in Israel
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